"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
The first verse of today's quote contains these words; "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". Many today misinterpret that statement to mean that a lost soul is to "work" out their own salvation by living a perfect life so as to earn their way to heaven. That assertion is wrong in every aspect. It it were to be true, the bible would be a contradiction of itself and therefore meaningless. Paul, in the same breath that he uttered those words, went further to say; "For it is God which WORKETH IN YOU both to will and to do of his good pleasure." That means, so long as we have faith in Jesus Christ, God is in charge of what we do as His children so far as the salvation of our souls is concerned.
In Romans 4:4-5, Paul said, "Now to him that worketh is the reward NOT RECKONED OF GRACE, BUT OF DEBT. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, HIS FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS." That clearly means that if we have faith, nothing we do has an effect on the security of our eternal souls. Another example can be found in Ephesians 2:8-9, this also clearly defines how a lost soul is saved; "For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that not of yourselves: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast."
The second verse of today's quote assures us that it is God who is in control of our salvation, not ourselves. If we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that faith IS total righteousness in the sight if God, no matter what we do in the flesh.~
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